Category: Hot Seat Coach Rankings

Which College Football Head Coaches Were The Best Players?

College Football News Preview 2020: Which current college football head coaches were the best players? 

College Football News Preview 2020: Which current college football head coaches were the best players? 

– Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews & @RichCirminiello

20. WR PJ Fleck, Northern Illinois (Minnesota)

Caught a school-record 77 passes for 1,028 yards and six touchdowns as a senior.

19. QB Jeff Brohm, Louisville (Purdue)

Blossomed as a senior, throwing 20 TD passes and leading the Cards to a 9-3 record.

18. FB Frank Solich, Nebraska (Ohio)

Inducted into the Nebraska Football Hall of Fame in 1992. Ran for 1,010 yards and seven scores, averaging 5.2 yards per carry.

[jwplayer 3BzwUceK]

17. QB Rick Stockstill, Florida State (Middle Tennessee)

Named honorable mention All-American with the Seminoles in 1981.

16. NG Luke Fickell, Ohio State (Cincinnati)

Started a school-record 50 straight games along the defensive line in Columbus.

15. S Kirby Smart, Georgia (Georgia)

Earned four letters, rising to the All-SEC First Team as a senior in 1999.

14. LB Kevin Sumlin, Purdue (Arizona)

Four-year starter made 375 tackles and was twice named honorable mention All-Big Ten.

13. QB Jonathan Smith, Oregon State (Oregon State)

Four-year starter who led the Beavers to their best season in school history.

12. QB Jimbo Fisher, Samford (Texas A&M)

Named 1987 Division III Player of the Year, setting a single-season D-III mark with 34 TD passes.

11. QB Tom Arth, John Carroll (Akron)

Set 18 school records and earned unanimous All-American honors as a junior and senior.

10. LB Kyle Whittingham, BYU (Utah)

Made 240 tackles and forced six fumbles in his final two seasons with the Cougars.

9. S Lovie Smith, Tulsa (Illinois)

Started every game for three seasons at Tulsa, making 367 career tackles.

8. QB Tim Lester, Western Michigan (Western Michigan)

Finished his college career with 87 touchdown passes and 11,299 passing yards.

7. QB Josh Heupel, Oklahoma (UCF)

All-American and Heisman Trophy runner-up led the Sooners to a national championship.

6. QB Willie Taggart, WKU (Florida Atlantic)

Two-time finalist for the Walter Payton Award, the I-AA equivalent of the Heisman Trophy.

[vertical-gallery id=515300]

5. QB Scott Frost, Nebraska (Nebraska)

Led the Huskers to a perfect season and a share of the national championship in 1997.

4. DB Herm Edwards, Cal/San Diego State (Arizona State)

Intercepted 33 passes during a nine-year career with the Philadelphia Eagles.

3. QB Mike Gundy, Oklahoma State (Oklahoma State)

Broke the Oklahoma State and Big 8 passing records with 7,997 yards.

2. QB Jim Harbaugh, Michigan (Michigan)

Left Ann Arbor as Michigan’s career passing yards leader before playing 15 years in the NFL.

1. LB Pat Fitzgerald, Northwestern (Northwestern)

In the College Football Hall of Fame, he was a two-time consensus All-American and the recipient of the Bednarik Award in 1995 and 1996.

[protected-iframe id=”361699434b6d70baf15f631ed2408ac1-97672683-92922408″ info=”https://www.googletagservices.com/tag/js/gpt.js” ]

Hot Seat Coach Rankings For Every Power Five Team: 20 For 2020 College Football Topics, No. 14

20 for 2020 College Football Topics, No. 14: the coaching hot seat rankings for all of the Power Five teams. 

[jwplayer Bp3WJh0X]

20 for 2020 College Football Topics, No. 14: the coaching hot seat rankings for all of the Power Five teams. 

– Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews & @PeteFiutak

Being on a hot seat shouldn’t just be about whether or not a guy needs to win a football game or five to keep his job. That’s obviously the biggest part of the staying hired equation, but it’s about pressure, too.

Sometimes, a relatively safe made man has all the pressure in the world on his shoulders to beat the arch-rival, and sometimes a college football head coach just has to win big, or else.

The rankings go from who’s on the coolest of seats in each Power Five conference to who had better come up with a big season to survive.

ACC Spring Coach Hot Seat Rankings

14. Dabo Swinney, Clemson

Yeah, the pressure is on to win the national title or the season is a disappointment, but Swinney has coached in four national championship games in five years. He’s at Clemson for life if it’ll have him.
Record With Team: 130-31
2019 ACC Spring Hot Seat Ranking: 14
2018 ACC Spring Hot Seat Ranking: 14
– Full Schedule Analysis

13. Bronco Mendenhall, Virginia

The guy just beat Virginia Tech and took the Cavaliers to the ACC Championship and the Orange Bowl. It’s Virginia, the pressure isn’t that intense – he can have a few rough seasons and still be more than comfortable.
Record With Team: 25-27
2019 ACC Spring Hot Seat Ranking: 12
2018 ACC Spring Hot Seat Ranking: 8
– Full Schedule Analysis

12. Jeff Hafley, Boston College

A total disaster of a year would cause a little grumbling, but get to six wins and everything will be okay in Year One. Even if the record is awful, it’ll be seen as a step back to possibly take a big leap forward.
Record With Team: 0-0
– Full Schedule Analysis

[lawrence-related id=507346]

11. Scott Satterfield, Louisville

Everyone likes him, the overall attitude has changed around the program, and the talent is starting to come in. There’s still a rebuilding process to be done, but he showed last season what he can do with the Cardinals.
Record With Team: 8-5
2019 ACC Spring Hot Seat Ranking: 13
– Full Schedule Analysis

10. Dave Clawson, Wake Forest

It’s Wake freaking Forest, and Clawson has managed to take it to four straight bowl games and four straight winning seasons. There might be ebbs and flows to the record throughout the years, but he has already proven what he can do.
Record With Team: 36-40
2019 ACC Spring Hot Seat Ranking: 8
2018 ACC Spring Hot Seat Ranking: 10
– Full Schedule Analysis

9. Mack Brown, North Carolina

It was a positive first season to pull the Tar Heels out of the nosedive, but it has to be a beginning and not a culmination. The recruiting class was great, everything appears to be pointing up, but … win more.
Record With Team: 7-6
2019 ACC Spring Hot Seat Ranking: 3
– Full Schedule Analysis

8. Mike Norvell, Florida State

He’ll get a very, very, very short leash. He got Memphis over the hump, and the early returns are all positive, but he has yet to win a bowl game and he’s not the A-list of A-list possible hires. Brand name doesn’t always matter – ask UCLA how the Chip Kelly era is going – but it’s Florida State. A losing season will set off panic sirens.
Record With Team: 0-0
– Full Schedule Analysis

[lawrence-related id=507096]

7. David Cutcliffe, Duke

A third losing season in five years wouldn’t be a plus, but it’s Duke, and it’s Cutcliffe, so it would take something awful for this to be over in a bad way. However, after 12 years, the “go another direction” thing could come out if the campaign is a total disaster.
Record With Team: 72-79
2019 ACC Spring Hot Seat Ranking: 10
2018 ACC Spring Hot Seat Ranking: 7
– Full Schedule Analysis

6. Geoff Collins, Georgia Tech

It’s still going to take a little while to completely turn this whole thing around – a brutal schedule won’t help – but grade him a bit on a curve. That’s fine, but there had better be signs that something big is coming in 2021 no matter what happens record-wise in 2020.
Record With Team: 3-9
2019 ACC Spring Hot Seat Ranking: 11
– Full Schedule Analysis

5. Justin Fuente, Virginia Tech

Last season was stronger after a losing 2018 season, but he has lost three straight bowl games and there can’t be another loss to Virginia. At the very least, it would be a big plus if the Hokies were in the mix for the Coastal title until the end.
Record With Team: 33-20
2019 ACC Spring Hot Seat Ranking: 4
2018 ACC Spring Hot Seat Ranking: 13
– Full Schedule Analysis

4. Pat Narduzzi, Pitt

The pressure always seems to be on Narduzzi to do more, and then he goes out and wins 7-to-8 games. However, after five years, one total clunker – and a second losing season in three years – would be a big problem
Record With Team: 36-29
2019 ACC Spring Hot Seat Ranking: 2
2018 ACC Spring Hot Seat Ranking: 1
– Full Schedule Analysis

[lawrence-related id=507021]

3. Dino Babers, Syracuse

The ten-win season of two years ago seems way back in the rearview mirror. With three losing seasons in his four years, last season has to be more of the aberration than 2018.
Record With Team: 23-26
2019 ACC Spring Hot Seat Ranking: 9
2018 ACC Spring Hot Seat Ranking: 2
– Full Schedule Analysis

2. Dave Doeren, NC State

The opening line of last year’s blurb on Doeren: “There’s a problem if the Wolfpack come up with a 4-8 run.” State went 4-8. That was okay once, but it can’t happen again. The team wasn’t even competitive over the second half of the season.
Record With Team: 48-41
2019 ACC Spring Hot Seat Ranking: 7
2018 ACC Spring Hot Seat Ranking: 5
– Full Schedule Analysis

1. Manny Diaz, Miami

Miami fans are already a fickle lot as they expect greatness – and are right to do so – but losing to FIU, losing to a bad Duke team, and getting shutout by a Group of Five team in a lower-tier bowl on the way to a losing season is never going to be okay in Coral Gables.
Record With Team: 6-7
Last Season ACC Spring Hot Seat Ranking: 6
– Full Schedule Analysis

NEXT: Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12, SEC

Pages: Page 1, Page 2, Page 3, Page 4, Page 5

5 Coaches Who’ll Be Much Better In Year Two: 20 For 2020 College Football Topics, No. 15

20 for 2020 College Football Topics, No. 15: The five second year head coaches who should have a much stronger Year Two.

[jwplayer CTilIb5n]

20 for 2020 College Football Topics, No. 15: The five second year head coaches who should have a much stronger Year Two.

– Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews & @PeteFiutak

Well that didn’t go so well.

25 college football head coaches are going into their second seasons at the helm, and now is where the production is supposed to start to kick in.

There’s usually a reason as head coach is taking over a program, and most of the time it’s because the last guy got canned. So there’s a grace period because of all the work there is to do, but there’s usually not enough of one.

Even so, Year Two is when the turnarounds are supposed to come. Unfortunately, unlike our piece last season on the 5 Instant Impact New Head Coaches – which turned out to be close to the pin – the 5 Year Two Coaches Who’ll Be Much, Much Better really, really didn’t work.

And why?

Chad Morris at Arkansas … oops. Willie Taggart at Florida State … dropped too soon, but fired. And it goes on from there, so this time around these five have to be right.

Which five got through a slew of first year problems and are about to blow up?

The five coaches about to make the biggest instant impact in their second seasons are …

5. Tom Arth, Akron

There’s nowhere to go but up.

Win one game, and it’s already going to be an improved season. Win three, and it’ll be a huge step forward. Go bowling, and Tom Arth is your coach of the year.

Akron was easily the worst team in college football last season.

It was the only team that failed to win a game. It was dead last in the nation in total offense, couldn’t generate a lick of production on the defensive front, and it got worse as the year went on scoring six points or fewer in five of the last seven games.

[lawrence-related id=508585]

But to give Arth a little bit of credit, he had plenty of work to do after taking over a team team that closed out 2018 on a five-game losing streak.

The 38-year-old worked his way through D-III John Carroll – his alma mater, which he took to three D-III playoff appearances – before taking on the Chattanooga gig. He went 9-13 with the Mocs, but that was enough to get him the Akron job.

So what are things possibly going to be better in Year Two? Experience has to count for something.

With the season slipping away, Akron went young to get the time logged in. Now, if all goes according to plan, ten starters will be back on O, six should return on D, and there’s hope to get off to a hot start with Youngstown State, New Mexico State, Clemson …

Starting 2-0 is a possibility, with home games against UMass and Bowling Green to potentially crank up a few wins.

0-12 to 4-8?

NEXT: The adjustment continues …

Pages: Page 1, Page 2, Page 3, Page 4, Page 5

5 Instant Impact New Head Coaches: 20 For 2020 College Football Topics, No. 16

The five new head coaches who’ll rock right away this season. 20 for 2020 College Football Topics, No. 16

[jwplayer CTilIb5n]

20 for 2020 College Football Topics, No. 16: The five new head coaches who’ll rock right away this season.

– Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews & @PeteFiutak

24 college football teams are starting the season with a new full-time head coach.

It’s an interesting group with 12 first time FBS head men, a few retreads getting another shot (Brady Hoke at San Diego State and Karl Dorrell at Colorado), and a few brand-name upgrades (Mike Leach at Mississippi State and Steve Addazio at Colorado State).

Which five might just turn around their respective programs right away?

Who doesn’t make this list? Coaches inheriting heaters (Shawn Clark at Appalachian State and Ryan Silverfield at Memphis) and coaches who aren’t likely to make the team better than it was last year (Dave Aranda at Baylor and Willie Taggart at Florida Atlantic).

We did a decent job with last year’s 5 Instant Impact New Head Coaches, and these five have a whole lot to live up to in their new gigs.

The five new coaches about to make the biggest instant impact are …

5. Danny Gonzalez, New Mexico

It’s been a rough run for New Mexico football.

Rocky Long was able to make the program a regular on the bowl circuit with five post-season appearances in six years in the 2000s, and then came one bad year in 2008. That was it for Long, the program was stale, it couldn’t make that next step, and …

Long made San Diego State a Mountain West powerhouse.

Meanwhile, Mike Locksley had a miserable run, Bob Davie went to two bowls in eight years – going 8-28 in his final three seasons – and it’s up to new head man Danny Gonzalez to try reviving his alma mater.

Getting Long to help the cause is terrific, too.

[lawrence-related id=508856]

Long returns to Albuquerque as the Lobo’s defensive coordinator under the 44-year-old former defensive back/punter/jack-of-all-trades, but they both have a whole lot of work to do.

You’re not going to have New Mexico football to push around anymore … eventually.

The team will need the positive injury-luck on offense it hasn’t had over the last few seasons, it needs to improve on the nation’s worst pass defenses, and it has to be a whole lot better than the second-worst overall D in America.

He’s bringing a nastiness to the defense, a no-excuses attitude, and he’s bringing a whole lot of talent.

And he’s bringing back Rocky Long, too.

There might not be a Mountain West title right away, but with Idaho State, New Mexico State and UMass on the slate, beating last year’s win total shouldn’t be a problem.

With this coaching staff, New Mexico might just win more than five games, not just five weeks of off-season practices.

NEXT: Oh this will be fun …

Pages: Page 1, Page 2, Page 3, Page 4, Page 5

5 Possible Colorado Coaching Candidates … If It’s Not Eric Bieniemy

Mel Tucker left for Michigan State, and now the Colorado job is open. Who are five possible coaching candidates – if it’s not Eric Bieniemy.

[jwplayer 9Dc7iKWP]

Mel Tucker left for Michigan State, and now the Colorado job is open. Who are five possible coaching candidates – if it’s not Eric Bieniemy. 

Eric Bieniemy isn’t going to be the next head coach for the Colorado Buffaloes … maybe.

Oh sure, if he wants the job, it’s his no matter what – the former Buff running back legend would be the dream guy for the gig – but he’s too big, too good, and he’s going to get an NFL head coaching job at some point.

It could be with the Kansas City Chiefs.

Andy Reid might say he wants to stay around and ride this out with Patrick Mahomes as the new superstar of superstars, but even if it’s just three years or so, maybe Bieniemy stays put until it’s his time to take over.

Who wants to leave the life as an NFL coach who gets to work with an all-time great quarterback who’s only 24?

However, it’s very possible that Bieniemy wants the Colorado job because he’ll 1) get a massive salary bump and 2) it could be a whole lot of fun. But let’s assume that it doesn’t happen. Who else should be on Colorado’s short list?

Here are five Colorado coaching candidates who athletic director Rick George will at least need to think about if he can’t land Bieniemy.

5. Todd Graham, Hawaii head coach

Don’t just meh this, Colorado fans. He’d be a better hire than you might think.

Here’s the best part – Arizona State is still paying for him.

ASU had to drop close to $13 million to ask Graham to leave, and it’s still dropping checks to finish out the deal. The former Sun Devil head man is only making around 800k with the Rainbow Warriors, but he hasn’t even gotten started yet, and he’s still good enough to still be a Pac-12 coach.

He’s only 55, was decent at ASU – going to four bowl games in five years with two ten-win seasons with a Pac-12 South title – and he knows how to crank up an offense.

Okay, okay, this wouldn’t be a disappointment considering Bieniemy is the dream, but Graham would win right away.

If I didn’t lose you with the idea of Todd Graham …

4. Barry Odom, Arkansas defensive coordinator

DON’T LEAVE … stay with me here.

Colorado isn’t going to be in the hunt for Urban Meyer – it’s going to have to punch its weight if it can’t get Bieniemy.

The $2.4 million buyout by Missouri isn’t at the Todd Graham level, but it’s still something. Along with that, he was a whole lot better at Missouri than he got credit for.

Yeah, he went 25-25 in his four years in Columbia, but when he had the right offensive coordinator, his offenses were explosive, his defenses were normally solid, and the teams he put together that had so many problems against the better SEC programs would do just fine in the Pac-12.

Odom improved in each of his first three years a Mizzou – going from four wins, to seven, to eight – and then the program was hit with bullspit NCAA sanctions, didn’t have a bowl game to play for, QB Kelly Bryant was banged midseason, the O died, and the team finished 6-6.

Like Graham, Odom is a better head coach than you might think. And so is …

[lawrence-related id=507743]

3. Willie Taggart, Florida Atlantic head coach

You see that thing that’s happening at Oregon? Who set the wheels in motion to get that up and rolling again?

Yes, Taggart has never won a bowl game. Yes, he has never won a bowl game partly because he left WKU for USF, USF for Oregon, and Oregon for Florida State. Yes, he has never coached in a conference championship game, much less win one, and yes, his 21 games at FSU were painful.

But yes, he wasn’t handed a full cupboard from Jimbo Fisher when he took over the job. Dog his short stint in Tallahassee all you want, but 21 games isn’t enough time to work to crank up a high-end program. It just didn’t work.

Here’s the thing – get him right now on the cheap, because his stock is going to go way, way up again two years from now.

He’s stepping into a nice situation at Florida Atlantic, he’s going to win really, really big, and then he’ll be in line for a better gig than Colorado.

There’s a reason he was wanted at Oregon and Florida State – he builds programs. He might not turn Colorado into what Oregon is now, but can certainly be a difference-maker in a good time to take over the Pac-12 South.

2. Bill Napier, Louisiana head coach

There wouldn’t be a list of top head coaching possibilities without having Napier on it.

The 40-year-old is coming off an 11-win season with two Sun Belt West titles in two years, his offenses are dangerous, and he’s more than due to get one of the bigger gigs considering his resumé.

The former Arizona State offensive coordinator was also the quarterback coach for a year at Colorado State – it’s not like he’d be a fish out of water in Boulder or the Pac-12.

Like Taggart, Colorado would be getting him at a good time at a relatively solid value. If 2020 is like 2019, Napier is going to be the hot name for a bigger-time job.

And the same goes for …

1. Graham Harrell, USC offensive coordinator

Colorado is never afraid to make a bold choice and take a bit of a call when it comes to its head coaches.

Harrell might be 34, and his resumé is only as a one-year offensive coordinator at USC after doing big things for three years as the North Texas OC, but his attacks produce massive numbers.

Don’t let it be lost that the Trojan passing game was amazing – remember, the O had to deal with three different quarterbacks throughout the year – even though the season was a disappointment overall.

There might be some growing pains, and he might be a year or two away from a good Power Five job. but get him to Boulder and the passing game playmakers will flock to the school …

If Colorado doesn’t get Eric Bieniemy.

[protected-iframe id=”361699434b6d70baf15f631ed2408ac1-97672683-92922408″ info=”https://www.googletagservices.com/tag/js/gpt.js” ]

Week 12 Roundup: 5 Things That Matter, Winners, Losers, Overrated, Underrated

The Week 12 college football roundup. The 5 things that matter, winners and losers, overrated and underrated, and what it all means.

[jwplayer PkCtjTd4-boEY74VG]

The Week 12 college football roundup. The 5 things that matter, winners and losers, overrated and underrated, and what it all means.

– Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews & @PeteFiutak

College Football Week 12 Roundup

CFN 1-130 Rankings | Bowl Projections
Early Week 13 Line Lookahead
Rankings: AP | USA Today Coaches | FWAA
– CFP Rankings Projection
– Predicting every remaining game, conference race
Quick Thoughts: Big Ten |  SEC

Week 12 Roundup
The Really Big Thing | Most Overrated Thing
Most Underrated Thing | What It All Means

5. Winners & Losers From Week 12

Winner: QB Trevor Lawrence, Clemson

Remember way, way back to the old days of mid-October when Trevor Lawrence was supposedly freelancing, making too many big mistakes, and throwing eight interceptions in his first seven games?

Remember when he was overrated, not worthy of being considered a slam-dunk No. 1 overall NFL prospect, and was regressing in his sophomore year?

Good times.

Yeah … in his last four games he hit close to 80% of his passes and averaged over 12 yards per throw with 13 touchdowns and no interceptions. If that wasn’t enough, he also ran for 130 yards with two touchdowns as Clemson hung up 52 points or more on the board in each of those four games.

Loser: Arizona’s passing game

In recent years, a mediocre day from the Arizona passing attack usually happened because the ground game was going off. The Wildcats only threw for 68 yards against Oregon State back in 2017, but that’s because they ran for 534.

Against Oregon on Saturday, Arizona’s Khalil Tate and Grant Gunnell combined to throw for a season-low 132 yards with no touchdown passes. Worse yet, the 4.4 yards per pass were the fewest by any Arizona team since a 51-13 loss to the Ducks back in 2014.

Winner: RB Najee Harris, Alabama

Alabama’s passing game carried the team, but now with Tua Tagovailoa done for the year, it’ll be up to Harris and the ground game to start doing a whole lot more. Harris has rushed for eight touchdowns in the last four games and caught touchdown passes in each of the last two. He wasn’t needed much in blowouts over Arkansas and Mississippi State – running for 86 and 88 yards, respectively – but he took off for over 100 yards in the other three of the previous five games.

Loser: Georgia Tech’s running game  

Going back to early in the 2009 season in a loss to Miami, Georgia Tech failed to run for 100 yards just three times in a span of 134 games.

It has failed to run for 100 yards twice in the last three weeks.

The program went on a run of 40 straight games going back to 2016 with 100 yards rushing or more. That streak snapped a few weeks ago when Pitt allowed just 86 yards in a 20-10 win. On Saturday, Virginia Tech beat the Yellow Jackets 45-0, allowing just 53 yards on 31 carries.

It was the first time Georgia Tech was held to under 75 yards since Clemson gave up just 71 in the middle of the 2015 season.

Winner: The quarterbacks in the LSU 58-37 win over Ole Miss

Defense, schmefense. In LSU’s wild and crazy win over Ole Miss, Joe Burrow further cemented his Heisman credentials by completing 32-of-42 passes for 489 yards and five scores, and he ran for 26 yards.

Ole Miss freshman QB John Rhys Plumlee came up with 212 yards and four touchdowns … rushing. He also threw for 123 yards with a pick, and Matt Corral threw for 89 yards and a touchdown.

In all, the quarterbacks in the game accounted for 945 yards of total offense.

Loser: Northwestern’s quarterback play

The good news: Northwestern finally won a game again. It rocked a miserable UMass team – with the nation’s worst defense, by far – 45-6.

The bad news: the passing game completed 7-of-13 passes for 76 yards and two picks. Two weeks earlier, the Minutemen gave up 488 passing yards and five touchdowns to Liberty.

Winner: Kent State’s fourth quarter vs. Buffalo

0-60. That’s what Kent State was in its previous 60 games when down by 21 points or more. It was down 27-6 to a Buffalo team looking for its sixth win, bow eligibility, and a big step forward in the MAC East race.

Instead, in the final eight minutes of the game, Kent State scored a touchdown, recovered the onside kick, scored on a 41-yard pass play for a score, blocked a punt, tied the game on a fourth down touchdown pass, and won on the last play of regulation with a 44-yard Matthew Trickett field goal.

Loser: Baylor in the second half vs. Oklahoma

Everything was going so well. Baylor was up 31-10 at halftime, the party was just getting started, and then … Oklahoma score 24 in the second half – 31 unanswered overall – and Baylor suffered a brutal collapse. It couldn’t move the chains at all after halftime – Oklahoma ended up controlling the clock for over 41 minutes.

Winner: Rice

Rice had one win over an FBS program in its previous 31 games going back to September 9th of 2017. It won last year’s season finale against Ole Dominion, and it was competitive through most of the first part of the season despite the 0-9 start, and then … Rice 31, Middle Tennessee 28. The Owls failed to score in the second half, and it got WAY too tight, but it was the program’s first win of the season.

Loser: Duke

Didn’t you used to be Duke? The Blue Devils started the season 4-2 with acceptable losses to Alabama and Pitt, and since then they’ve not only lost four straight, but the offense has gone bye-bye.

They scored 30 or more in five straight games, and 44 total in the last four losses in blowout after blowout. A once sure-thing bowl season is now destined to be a loser, bottoming out in a 49-6 home loss to a Syracuse team that hadn’t won an ACC game.

Week 12 Roundup
The Really Big Thing | Most Overrated Thing
Most Underrated Thing | What It All Means

NEXT: The really big thing was …

Pages: Page 1, Page 2, Page 3, Page 4, Page 5

Week 11 Roundup: 5 Things That Matter, Winners, Losers, Overrated, Underrated

The Week 11 college football roundup. The 5 things that matter, winners and losers, overrated and underrated, and what it all means.

[jwplayer PkCtjTd4-boEY74VG]

The Week 11 college football roundup. The 5 things that matter, winners and losers, overrated and underrated, and what it all means.

– Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews & @PeteFiutak

College Football Week 11 Roundup

CFN 1-130 Rankings | Bowl Projections
Early Week 12 Line Lookahead
Rankings: AP | USA Today Coaches | FWAA
– Chad Morris fired: 5 possible options
– Predicting Second CFP Rankings
– Predicting every remaining game, conference race
Quick Thoughts: Big Ten | Big 12 | SEC
– 10 Quick Thoughts On LSU 46, Alabama 41

Week 11 Roundup
The Really Big Thing | Most Overrated Thing
Most Underrated Thing | What It All Means

5. Winners & Losers From Week 11

Winner: Ohio State’s defense 

The offense might be hanging up ridiculous numbers, but the defense – with or without Chase Young – has been more impressive. The Buckeyes lead the nation in total defense, allowing just 215 yards per game. To put this into perspective, Wisconsin is second, giving up 231 a game. No defense since 2011 Alabama has finished a season allowing fewer than 250 yards per game.

Loser: Missouri’s offense

This got bad, fast. QB Kelly Bryant has been less than 100%, and he was out in the loss to Georgia. Now, the Mizzou offense that came up with 400 yards or more in five of its first six games hasn’t hit the 300-yard mark in any of its last three.

Getting stuffed and shutout by Georgia is one thing, but the Tigers have scored a total of 21 points over the last three weeks playing Vanderbilt and Kentucky before going to Athens. However, they’re 5-0 at home, 0-4 on the road, and they host Florida this weekend.

Winner: Tennessee

Well would you look at that. Tennessee, after starting 1-4 with losses at home to Georgia State and BYU along the way, has ripped off wins in four of its last five games to get to 5-5. And now, after all the pain, and all the suffering, it just has to win one of its last two games at Missouri or at home against Vanderbilt to go bowling. As a warning, thought, the Vols were 5-5 last year before playing Mizzou and Vandy, too, and were outscored 88-30 in the two losses.

Loser: Kentucky  

Kentucky is keeping it all together with Scotch tape and bubble gum, but the lack of offensive punch has now become a problem. It had its shot late in the 17-13 loss to Tennessee, but couldn’t get into the end zone. Now, after failing to score 14 points in four of its last six games, it has two win two of its last three to go bowling. At Vanderbilt, UT Martin, Louisville – beat the Commodores, or else.

Winner: Illinois 

And they did it with room to spare. Not three weeks ago, the Illini were done. The Lovie Smith era was a disaster, there was no hope for anything positive, and the idea of going to a bowl game for the first time since 2014 and the second time since 2011 seemed ridiculous. And then it beat Wisconsin, rolled by Purdue and Rutgers, and last week, took down Michigan State on the road to get to six wins with two games to go. It also helped that …

Loser: Michigan State collapsed

There was the 12-men on the field debacle in the 10-7 loss to Arizona State. There was the blowout loss at Ohio State. There were the losses to Wisconsin and Penn State by a combined score of 66-7. There was the suspension of heart-and-soul LB Joe Bachie to a PED test.

But everything was back on track with a 31-10 lead against Illinois going into the fourth quarter, and then … it was the biggest comeback win in Illini history. Now MSU has lost four straight and has to win two of its last three against at Michigan, at Rutgers, and Maryland to get bowl eligible.

Winner: Florida program bowl projections

USF is the one team probably out of the hunt – needing to win two of the last three games against Cincinnati, Memphis and at UCF to get to six wins – and FIU has to win one of its last two games against Miami or Marshall, but everyone else in the Sunshine State will get a vacation.

UCF became bowl eligible a few weeks ago, and so did Florida. Florida Atlantic is all but locked in with seven wins. After a win over Louisville, Miami is set, and now … Florida State is there. After the win at Boston College – despite the loss of head coach Willie Taggart – all the Noles have to do is beat Alabama State and it gets to start a new bowl streak.

Loser: The Pac-12 bowl projections

The Pac-12 needs some crazy things to happen in a hurry to get more teams bowl eligible. Arizona, Oregon State, Stanford, Washington State and UCLA are all 4-5 and need to win two of their last three games. Arizona State is no lock, needing to win just one more with at Oregon State, Oregon, and Arizona to go, and 4-6 Colorado has to beat both Washington and Utah. Cal is 5-4, and it has to win one of its last three against USC, at Stanford and at UCLA.

Winner: SMU 59, East Carolina 51

1,280 yards of total offense. 912 yards of passing. Just four penalties, one turnover each, and a finish that went down to the wire. Both teams are incapable lately of playing uninteresting games.

Loser: UCF

There was some thought that UCF was going to rip through the rest of its schedule, catch a big break, and get right back to a New Year’s Six bowl game. And then the O came to a complete stop with just three points in the second half of the 34-31 loss to Tulsa.

Week 11 Roundup
The Really Big Thing | Most Overrated Thing
Most Underrated Thing | What It All Means

NEXT: The really big thing was …

Pages: Page 1, Page 2, Page 3, Page 4, Page 5